tom schweich

A new audit raises concerns about a Missouri program that provides tax incentives for developers to clean up contaminated old business sites.

The report Thursday by State Auditor Tom Schweich  notes that Missouri authorized over $185 million of Brownfield Remediation Tax Credits for 115 projects from the 2003 to 2013 fiscal years. About four-fifths of those projects were in the St. Louis area.

Federal and state elections in Missouri this fall will feature the lowest number of candidates in at least a couple of decades. A total of 429 candidates filed for federal and state offices before yesterday's deadline.

The highest profile state office to be elected this fall is that of the state auditor. Incumbent auditor Tom Schweich is seeking his second four-year term, but will not face any Democratic or Republican opposition.

Schweich's only challengers are Libertarian Sean O'Toole and Constitution Party candidate Rodney Farthing.

Missouri's auditor is raising concerns about state payments to subsidize child care costs for lower-income families.

Auditor Tom Schweich criticized the state Social Services Department for not having enough quality control over the payments. The findings were included in an audit issued Monday of nearly $12 million in federal funds received by Missouri.

Schweich found that one-third of the payments reviewed by his office were not supported by proper documentation or were not in compliance with department guidelines.

Candidates for Congress and state offices will line up at the secretary of state's office in the state capital this week to file for the 2014 election.

The only Missouri Democrat who has announced plans to challenge the re-election of Republican Auditor Tom Schweich is dropping out of the race.

Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich says he will have reports coming out soon on some of Missouri's biggest tax credit programs.

While statewide elections are still three years away, with the exception of auditor whose term ends in 2014, many candidates have already announced their intention to run.

The state auditor says authorities are investigating missing funds at the office of a central Missouri judicial circuit clerk.

Auditor Tom Schweich released a report Wednesday on his audit of the Callaway County clerk of the two-county 13th Judicial Circuit.

Schweich cites more than $11,000 in what he termed "problematic" transactions and $355 in missing funds.

Candidates are facing a deadline to file reports with the Missouri Ethics Commission detailing fundraising during the past three months.

The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled for Gov. Jay Nixon in a budget battle with State Auditor Tom Schweich.

The court ruled Tuesday that Schweich lacked legal standing at the time to challenge about $170 million of spending cuts announced by Nixon in June 2011. The court said the challenge amounted to a pre-audit of state spending, which it said the auditor cannot do.

Schweich said the ruling is merely technical and he will consider suing again after doing a new audit of the governor's office.

Nixon said the ruling affirms his authority to balance the budget.

Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich says a newly enacted law will give him greater flexibility in determining when and how to audit governmental agencies.

Schweich said Monday that the measure regarding the auditor's authority updates the state's World War II-era statutes and increases accountability in government. He said it clarifies the legality of many things the office already does, such as performance audits of agencies.

Gov. Jay Nixon signed the bill last Friday without much comment.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol is getting mixed reviews in an audit released Tuesday.  The law enforcement agency is being criticized for spending 5-point-6 million dollars on a new airplane.

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster has more than $400,000 in the bank as he makes plans for a 2016 gubernatorial race.

Koster filed a quarterly finance report Monday indicating he had $419,348 in his account as of the end of March. The Democratic attorney general confirmed last week that he is "making the necessary preparations" to run for governor.

A report from the Missouri auditor confirms that a state fund for disabled workers is insolvent.

State Auditor Tom Schweich said Friday that Missouri's Second Injury Fund had barely $3 million as of the end of 2012 but had unpaid obligations of $28 million.

The fund covers workers' compensation claims for employees who have previous injuries or disabilities and then suffer a new job-related injury. Auditors and financial analysts have warned for several years that the fund was on a path toward insolvency. But lawmakers have done nothing to address it.

The Missouri state auditor released a report Wednesday on the state’s Public Defender system.

Among the findings: public defenders need to better track the hours they spend on each case and update the standards they use to determine what’s the appropriate caseload.

Auditor Tom Schweich says Public Defenders have relied on national standards that are out-of-date.

The Missouri Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to the authority of the state auditor to write financial summaries for ballot initiatives.

A new audit says Missouri officials have overstated the economic impact of the state's main job incentive programs.

The report released Monday by Auditor Tom Schweich focuses on the Quality Jobs program, which provides tax breaks to businesses that add jobs with decent wages and health insurance.

Schweich says the projected jobs and investment reported by the Department of Economic Development has significantly overstated the amount of jobs actually created and the amount of money actually invested by businesses to improve facilities and equipment.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich (shwyk) has instructed his staff to stop doing financial estimates for ballot initiatives because of several recent court decisions.

Mrs. Brenda Umstattd has resigned as Circuit Clerk of Cole County after a state audit report was released on Wednesday.

Regional news coverage from the KBIA Newsroom, including:

• Charles Erickson recants his previous testimony in the Ryan Ferguson trial.
• Legislation that would tweak Missouri's K-12 funding formula stalls in the state Senate.
• Cole County's court circuit clerk resigns after today's state audit release.

Regional news coverage from the KBIA newsroom, including:

• A lawsuit between southeast Missouri farmers and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• A battery acid leak affecting Columbia Police Department and Joint Operations
• Missouri Gaming Commission new rule regarding casino exclusion list
• More corn planted this year since end of Great Depression
• State Auditor Schweich releases report about misuse of federal funds

Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich has released a report questioning how federal money is spent by state government in several programs.

Regional news coverage from the KBIA Newsroom, including:

• A Missouri Senate bill supports a change to adoptions in the state's foster care process.
• Missouri's state auditor weighs a senatorial run.
• The state Senate endorses legislation that would restrict public contracts with Iran.
• Women earn only 74 cents to the dollar compared to men in Missouri.
• Missouri lawmakers send Gov. Jay Nixon a workers' compensation bill.

Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich has set up a political committee to test the waters for a U.S. Senate campaign.

Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich will push for legislation next year he said will enable his office to oversee the state’s Division of Finance without interference from state agencies or private entities.